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Thursday, August 7, 2008

Orthorexic?

With all this news about Los Angeles' fast food restaurant zoning, I can't help but think about the thin line between those with healthy eating habits and those with an unhealthy obsession with eating healthy: Orthorexics

*Orthorexia - From the greek "ortho" (right and correct) and "exia" (appetite) . American physician Steven Bratman first proposed the term in 1996 and while it is not yet an eating disorder recognized by DSM but, all of this according to Michael Pollan in In Defense of Food, an academic investigation is underway.Don't get me wrong, I'm not a big fan of the fast food industry (thanks to Fast Food Nation, among others), I'm just wondering if this is the best approach to help control the obesity epidemic or if the LA City Council members are a little high on protein and perfection.

Of course the bigger hope is, like in Concord, Massachusetts a few years back, that such restrictions will boost traffic and sales at local grocers, diminish truancy, decrease pollution and improve these communities but I guess, well, I can't help but picture Britney Spears chaining herself to the local Sonic (I know I know, "leave Britney alone"). What I am trying to say is, obesity is a symptom of a much larger problem: the industrialization of food gone wild. Another symptom on the opposite end of the spectrum: famine and starvation in other parts of the world.